Part 3 - The Bouquet and Wedding Luncheon

THE BOUQUET

I am not really into flowers. I mean, I love flowers but I just have a hard time spending a lot of money on something that has such a short life span. I love a good wedding bouquet but I can do without all the corsages and the boutonnieres (man, that is a hard word to spell even if you do have two years of high school French under your belt like I do!) I wasn’t sure what to do for Kristy’s bouquet and she had no strong opinions and I had looked around a bit online but hadn’t found any good options. I kept thinking something or someone would turn up and lead me to the right bouquet. Well, my procrastination didn’t pay off and I found myself two days before the wedding with no bouquet for the bride. What was I thinking? I have no idea. I plead insanity.

I was planning all along to get a live bouquet but I figured I was too late so I headed into Modern Display to see if they might have some artificial bouquets already made? I was desperate. They did not have any such thing but the floral department said that if I just picked out the flowers that I wanted that they could make me up a bouquet that would be ready by the next day. Sweet! Kacey helped to pick out the flowers. We had no idea what we were doing but we just picked out a few things that appealed to us. We took them to the floral arranger and she added a few suggestions of her own. She asked how much I wanted to spend because that would determine how many flowers she put in. Don’t you hate questions like that? My mind was racing. I felt ghetto enough buying an artificial bouquet, now she wanted me to show my true colors? Could she tell just by looking that my favorite store is TJ Maxx? Was she judging me? What if I said a number that was embarrassingly low and she spit in my eye and told me that I don’t deserve to be the mother of the bride and demanded that I leave the store? Or worse, what if I said a number that was too high and I ended up with an artificial bouquet that was not only ugly but ginormous? If only I had the guts to say, “I want to spend as little as possible and still have it look reasonably nice.” Darn my stubborn pride! I finally managed to say in the form of a question, “I’d like to keep it under $100?” She said that should be no problem (and it didn’t sound like she was being sarcastic) so I was able to walk out of there with my dignity still intact.

We were to pick the bouquet up the following day which was (mind you) the day before the wedding so it’s not like there was time for a Plan B, but I picked it up and it was just beautiful! I thought it was just perfect for a winter wedding and she would be able to use it in Moses Lake as well. And… it was only $50 because the flowers we chose were all on clearance because it was after Christmas. I would consider myself a genius if I had planned it that way but as it was I was just lucky! So after seeing how cute it was, I got the idea to ask her if she could make me two smaller bouquets for the bride to toss. She did that lickety split for $25 each and they were adorable. The bouquets didn’t photograph as pretty as they looked (they sparkled in several places) so you’re just going to have to take my word for it or swing by Kristy’s and take a look because… they’re artificial and they are going to live forever! Maybe I am a genius? Thank you Modern Display!

THE LUNCHEON

After the temple ceremony we headed up to Midway where the Laceys had planned a lovely luncheon at Soldier Hollow. It was a beautiful setting. The roads were not great so it took longer than expected to get there but I believe everyone made it safe and sound. We had a delicious meal and enjoyed sitting and visiting for a while. We watched a slide show that Kacey had prepared of Kristy and Trevor growing up. It was great. Kristy and Trevor didn’t have too many dating pictures so Kacey helped them out a bit by creating fake super dating pictures showing Kristy and Trevor doing things like racing motorcycles, crashing a White House party and even going to the moon! The pictures were awesome. Thanks Kacey!

Then a microphone was passed so that advice could be given to the newlyweds which would be certain to secure them a blissful future if followed correctly, right? It was so nice to be gathered with friends and family in such a lovely setting. It was just perfect! There was not much time to linger, though, because before we knew it - it was time to head to Heber for the reception. It was held in the Lacey’s church building. We had helped to set things up the night before and it looked pretty good, but some friends of the Laceys had come in after us and put the finishing touches on it and it really looked nice. Unfortunately, the snow prevented some people from making the trek to Heber but there were plenty who did and we had a great time.

Doug & Connie’s family (minus Kyle & Sam who were missed) hung with us the whole day and attended every event and it was so great to have them there. They had just returned from spending the week in Las Vegas all together. Cali and Ashley both had new babies (Fiona and Henry) along with their other 6 kids in tow, Cali had been in the hospital the night before with kidney stones, Joey was on crutches from a recent knee surgery – oh what troopers they were! They really helped to fill the Earl quota. Tom & Gail were scheduled to fly in and Alysha was going to try to fly in as well, but – oh, guess what? – flights were backed up because of the snow!

Well, when you plan a wedding in Utah in December, you shouldn’t be surprised if it snows, right? Right. I guess I have no right complaining about the snow… but is it too much to ask for just a light skiff of snow for ambiance and to justify the rhinestoned snow boots, and then have it clear up and dry out for safe travel? I don’t think so. Isn’t that why I pay tithing? Doesn’t that buy me a window in heaven where I can go to the head of the line and ask for anything I want? I could swear that’s what they promised me in Sunday school. Then what am I getting for my 5%? Oh. It’s 10%? Nevermind then.

To be continued...